SCIG Wilmington railyard battle continues as Long Beach area residents air concerns

More than 200 people gathered Wednesday night in West Long Beach to weigh in on a contentious proposed railyard project that they say may have major economic and environmental implications to the city.

The nearly three-hour meeting organized by City Councilman James Johnson at Silverado Park allowed Long Beach-area residents to put on the record their feelings about the $500 million, 153-acre Southern California International Gateway railyard project.

Proposed by Burlington Northern Santa Fe in 2005, the facility is designed to help accommodate the rising demand in cargo by allowing trucks to load containers and put them on trains closer to the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, rather than having trucks drive 24 miles away to another facility in downtown Los Angeles.

Rail officials plan to build it on the Los Angeles border and across from West Long Beach residents' schools, parks and neighborhoods.

Opponents - wearing "No SCIG" T-shirts and carrying signs - contend that the project will increase traffic and health issues in West Long Beach and Wilmington. Several residents, including children from the Villages at Cabrillo, said they worried about asthma and other medical concerns.

Martha Sandoval, a West Long Beach resident who lives near the proposed project, said her son has asthma and is often absent from school because of it.

"He has to breathe with a machine and I don't think it's fair," she said in Spanish. "There's no need to have more pollution in Long Beach. We don't need it."

Railroad officials, some residents and supporters such as the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce said that the project will use green technology at the facility, help remove 1.5 million trucks per year from the 710 Freeway and create much-needed jobs.

"I feel that this project is going to bring green growth to the city of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles area," said Tommy Faavae of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 11.

However, some residents weren't convinced.

"How can I go to a job if I can't breathe?" asked one West Long Beach resident, jokingly asking if he needed to take an oxygen tank with him.

Port officials, which released a revised environmental impact report on the project, have until Tuesday to collect comments.